Vendor punts laptop-as-server behemoth
Intel quad-core Core i7 on board
Eurocom is the first system builder we've heard from who's put a desktop Core i7 four-core processor into a laptop.
Dubbed the Phantom-i7, the new machine's pitched as an "on-the-road mobile workstation" or "mobile server", though 'portable' would be a better word than 'mobile' since the machine's battery - cheekily branded an "internal... backup" device - delivers, at best, a mere hour's runtime.
Eurocom's done this kind of 'stuff desktop components into a laptop chassis' thing before, of course, and the Phantom i7 follows the customary pattern by incorporating up to 1.5TB of storage in RAID 0, 1 or 5 configuration.
Eurocom's Phantom i7: space-warping dimensions
The machine has a 17in 1920 x 1200 display, but if that's not big enough, you can hook it up to a larger screen using its HDMI or DVI ports. Graphics horsepower comes courtesy of an Nvidia GeForce Go GTX 280M GPU with a gigabyte of video Ram.
Insanely for a server, the Phantom i7 has 802.11n Wi-Fi on board. More usefully, it has a Gigabit Ethernet port, and Eurocom reckons you can have a second one too thanks to the unit's PCI Express card slot.
The Phantom measures measures 15.8 x 11.9in x 2.0, which does't seem so bad in inches, but expands to a fearsome 395 x 297.5 x 51.25 when you convert it to millimetres. Weight? A pumping iron-friendly 11.9lbs - 5.4kg.
The price will be equally colossal, we're sure - which is probably why Eurocom didn't tell us what it is. ®
COMMENTS
What, no PCIe slots?
Laaame. My ten-year-old Fieldworks had comparable specs for its day, plus three ISA and three PCI slots. And yes, the "integral UPS" (FW's euphemism for the battery) was specced to maintain the thing for a ten-minute shuffle between outlets.
Finally...
A laptop that can actually run vista...
Of course, that's being replaced now...
Why?
They could have really made it nice with a set of wheels and an extensible handle to double as a hand truck. Go one more step and add a collapsable zippered case and you have your entire carry on set for the flight. Two more steps into full transformer mode and it can be its own table and chair. There are, of course, more steps but I think a built in "inflate a date" are a bit extreme in a laptop... then again we haven't seen the price yet.
Actually has a useful purpose...
.. for trade shows when you don't want to lug a massive box to demo your latest server software. Shame all the trade shows are about to get canned...
